BREAKDOWN
3 stars
Publisher: Namco
Platform: XB
Genre: Action
Rated: MATURE
The Xbox may be dead in Japan, but one of the most innovative games for the system comes straight out of the Land of the Rising Sun. Many games pimp themselves as “completely immersive,” but no game of late comes close to the “you-are-there” level of Namco’s new “Breakdown.”
Waking from a coma, protagonist Derrick Cole is thrust into the middle of a twisted conspiracy where truth is an elusive commodity. Starting from Square One, Cole must learn new fighting techniques and find allies to help him escape an army of creep-out thugs that wants him dead. “Breakdown’s” narrative is completely uneven, but it works because you are Cole, not the off-screen deity watching him from just over the shoulder. Also disorienting at first is the fisticuffs, seen only through Cole’s eyes. But before long, unleashing torrents of blows becomes satisfyingly second nature.
Now, “Breakdown” is certainly not a perfect game. The visuals are not top-notch Xbox quality and some of the level layouts are frustratingly designed, but “Breakdown” deserves to avoid the fate of last year’s “Beyond Good & Evil,” also an unknown franchise — quality, innovative game play must be rewarded if this industry is to keep growing.
